Guest Blog – How to get 2000 Facebook likes in less than 12 months

I once heard the saying, you can’t sell a secret. With that in mind I set out with a mission to tell Kiwi couples about my business; Romantic Gestures.

Romantic Gestures has a big heart and a small budget so the key for me was to reach many people for little cost. Social Media seemed the way to go, what I lacked in budget I made up for in commitment!

I think that was the biggest key to going from a handful of “likes” to over 2000 in approximately 12 months – commitment. I made the decision to focus on Facebook for 12 months – without expecting anything in return. I was simply going to give value by posting interesting facts, tips and topics on the subject of love. Sure, I promoted my website too, but not so often that I came across as an infomercial!

At first it was like telling a joke and being met with silence – awkward! I would post something and wait for someone to hit that magical like button or even better; the Holy Grail, share my status only to be met with silence! However over time things started to change – I attended a Facebook Course and learned to ask questions, use images and take note of the best days and times to receive engagement from your fans. Finally it was working; the numbers were increasing – slowly.

Once I started to feel comfortable with Facebook and the content I was posting I ran a competition. This is a great way to increase your likes – my first competition rocketed us to 500 likes very quickly. It cost me $250.00, and was the best ROI I could have hoped for.

I now receive an enquiry or website registration from Facebook at least once a week. When I post a blog or a new venue on our Romantic Getaways page our web traffic spikes and most importantly people talk about us!

My fan base grows organically by 3-5 a week. From time to time I use paid Facebook advertising. I love it because I can target people within my target age range in a relationship living inNew Zealand. My fan base grows by 10+ per week when my ads are running again a good ROI.

My advice would be to sit down and think about the following:

1/ Are your customers on Facebook.

2/ What can you talk about that is relevant to your business and most importantly interesting to your target market.

3/ If you don’t know what you are doing, get help to set-up your page so it looks professional

4/ Remember that it’s a social platform not a networking one. Your tone should be like you were meeting and chatting to new people at a party, not a business meeting.

5/ Stick at it – you should be posting daily, at the very minimum once a week.

6/ Have fun!

My last word is to answer an often asked question: How long do you spend on your Facebook business page each day. The answer is; between 30 and 45 minutes – I’m sure you can manage that!